Tajpaul Singh Chowdhry (born 21 August 1974),[1][2] better known as Paul Chowdhry, is a Britishcomedian and actor.[3] He is of IndianPunjabiSikh descent.[4][5][3][6] Known for observational and satirical comedy that frequently addresses themes of race, multiculturalism, and British identity, Chowdhry is widely regarded as one of the greatest British Indian comedians of all time.[7][8][9][10]
Chowdhry has made numerous appearances on television comedy shows including hosting Stand Up for the Week, and he twice headlined Live at the Apollo, in 2012 and 2015. In 2016, he competed on Taskmaster alongside Dave Gorman, Sara Pascoe, Al Murray and eventual winner Rob Beckett. In 2017, Chowdhry became the first comedian of Asian heritage to sell out Wembley Arena.[11] He has released four stand-up comedy specials, What’s Happening White People through Universal Pictures in 2012 and later broadcast on Channel 4, PC’s World released on DVD through Universal Pictures in 2015, Live Innit on Amazon Prime Video in 2019 and later shown on Comedy Central, and Family-Friendly Comedian on Sky UK in 2024.
He has performed six tours across the world – Not PC (2010), What’s Happening White People? (2012), PC’s World (2014), Live Innit? (2017), Family Friendly Comedian (2022), and Englandia, which debuted in 2025.
Chowdhry has received numerous awards, including the Comedy award at the Eastern Eye Arts, Culture & Theatre Awards 2019, Comedian of the Year award at the Asian Voice Political & Public Life Awards 2019, and he was nominated for Entertainer of the Year by the British Asian Awards 2019. His show Live Innit? won Best Live Event 2018 at the ITV Asian Media Awards.[12]
Chowdhry began his stand up career in 1998 and hosted the Channel 4 comedy series Stand Up for the Week as of the fifth series, having been a regular act for the third and fourth series. Chowdhry was the first British act to perform at the Caribbean Comedy Festival in Trinidad in 2003. He has been a guest panelist on 8 out of 10 Cats, Comedy World Cup, and Sorry, I Didn't Know. He has appeared on Live at the Apollo twice, in 2012 and 2015.
In 2016, he was one of the contestants on series three of the comedy show Taskmaster. In 2017, he was a guest stand-up performer in The Russell Howard Hour and also sold out the 10,000-seater Wembley Arena, becoming the first British Asian stand-up comic to do so.[13]
In 2020, Chowdhry appeared in the television drama series Devils.
Since 2021, he has been hosting the podcast The Paul Chowdhry PudCast, in which he interviews comedians. He uses the signature phrase "what's happening white people?" at the start of his stand-up routines.
Chowdhry makes an effort to keep fit during touring, telling Coach Magazine: "I don't eat chapatis, even though I’m Indian" – and replacing them with higher-protein substitutes like bulgur wheat and quinoa. "If I only had ten minutes to work out, I’d do high-intensity abs training.”[15] He has also spoken about his battles with mental health in the New Statesman: "Mental health problems aren’t really discussed in the Asian community."[16]
Talking to the South China Morning Post, he said, "People see you as an Asian comedian, whereas the other two guys coming to Hong Kong (Sean Meo and Michael McIntyre) aren't Asian comedians – they're just British. But they're not referred to as 'English white comedians'. I'm British. I was born in England. The fact that I'm Asian has very little to do with my stand-up, although it would have an influence for an obvious reason because of the way I'm perceived by certain people. So I play on the stereotypes and try to change them."[17]
Stand Up
Chowdhry started his stand up career performing in pubs and clubs around London, often risking racial attacks.[18]
November 2001 saw him at Jongleurs Battersea and Brixton Comedy Club[19] and, in April 2003, he was still performing in Brixton.[20]
2003 also saw him in Trinidad, where he was the first British act to perform at the Caribbean Comedy Festival.[21]
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